Spring Garden senior offensive/defensive lineman BJ Turner signed a football scholarship with Faulkner University on Wednesday. Sitting from left is Renee Turner (mother), BJ Turner and Jeff Turner (father). Standing from left is Spring Garden coach Jason Howard, Jenna Stewart, Heather Lamar, Kelsey Turner, Margaret (Mot-Mot) Jones (grandmother) and Spring Garden principal Mike Welsh.
Just days before the Panthers' jamboree last season, Turner tore the ACL in his left knee and needed surgery to repair it. Through hard work and determination, Turner was back on the field a month later, helping the Panther running backs Forrest Livingston and Tyler Morgan post 1,000-yard seasons and leading them to their best season in school history (9-3).
Now, Turner's hard work and determination has paid off with a college scholarship.
On Wednesday, Turner realized his dream of playing college football by signing with Faulkner University in Montgomery. The 6-foot-3, 270-pounder also received interest from Troy University.
"Just getting the opportunity to play college football is a big deal, and now my lifelong dream of playing college football is coming true. I'm on cloud nine," Turner said. "When I found out I tore my ACL, I had numb feelings about it. I didn't know what my future entailed, but having the support of my team and this community, it really helped me to pursue our season last year and to try to do the best I could. It's worked out wonderfully for me, especially with the season we had."
For Spring Garden coach Jason Howard, Turner's signing makes him doubly proud.
"BJ and I are kin, so he's family," Howard said. "My wife (Christina) is first cousins with his mom (Renee), and that makes it a little more special because he is family. It's good to see that everything he's done has paid off. I'm tickled to death for him."
Turner and Howard both commended Faulkner for sticking with Turner even after his injury.
"Faulkner won me over because they took a chance with me," Turner said. "They said 'Hey, come over here and show us what you can do.' That's what won me over. They offered me three or four weeks into the season, and for them to stick with it, I respect them for it. I can't wait to play there. It's going to be great."
Howard said Faulkner was sold on Turner following a workout with the Eagles last summer.
"He went down and had a great camp," Howard said. "When they found out he had torn his ACL, they said they were going to honor their offer to him. I respect Faulkner's coaches. They left it up to him if he wanted to play, and he decided he was going to play through it. He missed a couple of games at the beginning of last season, but we got him through it slowly. From Week 5 on, he played solid for us."
Howard said Faulkner hasn't decided what position they will play Turner, but he feels Turner will make an impact with the Eagles no matter where they put him.
"They loved him at offensive tackle, but also at nose guard in their 3-5 (defense)," Howard said. "Either way, I think he's going to excel."
Turner called Wednesday's signing "bittersweet." He's sad to leave his high school days behind, but he's anxious to show Faulkner what he can do.
"It's weird to end one chapter and begin another, but at the end of the day, I've still got more years to play football. That's all I can ask," Turner said.
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